Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Ostatni dom na zapomnianej ulicy by Catriona Ward

156 reviews

theublein's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was super confusing and chaotic to follow until the end when everything was tied up very neatly. I typically can see twists of a mystery coming but this story had me guessing till the very end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Torture, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Grief, Physical abuse, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty

zeldazonks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It got to a certain point when I was listening to this, that I thought I had it figured out but I was still curious enough to finish and see how everything played out. Well, more fool me, because this book took me completely by surprise on 2 or 3 occasions. Towards the end it was quite tough to get through, so check trigger warnings.

I will also say that I'm not 100% convinced about the mental health representation/portrayal in this. While in the afterword the author does clarify more about the disorder and the research they did into it, the fact of the matter is that you are led to believe a very specific narrative about Ted through most of the novel and while the book does catch you off guard, and challenge the preconceived notions you have about predators and good vs bad people, I just don't think the book carries it off well enough to completely avoid perpetuating stereotypes or harm. This was interesting and quite unique, but I think it almost undermines it's own point in how obviously you're walked down the garden path for the majority of the book. I respect the bold choices - the pov of a cat for example, and

I think I'll be mulling over this one for a little bit, but I don't know that it managed to fully pull off what it was trying to do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Child death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Animal death, Torture, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Death, Confinement, and Blood

simplyammee's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Homophobia

gothikry's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Self harm, Murder, and Mental illness

beynotce's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

olivia the cat is the greatest heroine of modern literature, and I will not be taking questions at this time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide and Animal death

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed The Last House on Needless Street! There were a few false starts before I finally made it past the halfway point, and was hooked. I adore the gay and religious cat, Olivia!

this is one of the most sincere representations of disassociative identity disorder that I've ever seen! I'm really glad Ted didn't end up being a villain. It was interesting to have gotten Ted's point of view of events only to have those events later rewritten as explained by the consciousness that actually experienced them. I want more information about Ted's mom, tbh. Making Ted both a suspect and one of his mother's victims filled in the hanging questions in the story wonderfully. I also wanted more of an explanation on why the bug man is the way he is and what exactly he did to warrant the temporary loss of his license.
Rob feels like a good addition to the story, and I like the hints of possibility that Ted is gay.
The ending of this book was unexpectedly tender and comforting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Confinement, Mental illness, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Child death, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, and Child abuse

pvp_niki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Child death, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Suicide, and Kidnapping

Minor: Homophobia and Body shaming

thewordapothecary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A rollercoaster for sure. There were multiple times I swore I had it all figured out. And I guess in a way I did, but not fully. There are so many ups and downs with the characters, you love them and think they’re good and then the next you hate them and think they’re the bad guy.

Not a challenging read, but you do have to get used to how Ted speaks. Once you do though, it’s a very fast read. 

Really dark, but so good and I can tell it was well researched. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Physical abuse, Vomit, Body horror, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, and Violence

thornthistle's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was great and awful at the same time. I was nauseous 80% throughout due to how its content was described, but it needed to be written that way. It starts dark and confusing, then as it's twists are resolved, ends with hope.

Great book, but not for the faint of heart.

Lying will be the death of you, but the rebirth of your true self.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

jahsi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Self harm, Torture, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death